It's been a rocky ride, but these Bearcats have clawed their way
into the postseason.

The Binghamton men's lacrosse team has qualified for the America
East conference tournament despite being picked to finish last in
the conference preseason poll and losing their head coach midseason
in protest of the suspension of three players on the team.

Head coach Ed Stephenson abruptly resigned in March following
the reported suspension of three players after a fight with a
fourth individual. According to an Inside Lacrosse report, those
players have since been reinstated to the university.

"It was a pretty rocky ride trying to stay focused," sophomore
attack Matt Springer said. "I guess we kind of figured it would be
a little bit bumpy, but I'd say we did OK."

Binghamton (6-7, 2-2 AE) clinched an America East conference
tournament berth last week with a 10-8 win against Hartford. The
Bearcats will conclude their regular season on Saturday at home
against Albany, a team they have never beaten.

"Everything seems a little bit more normal, and I think time has
been really the biggest thing," interim head coach Kevin McKeown
said. "All three of us on [the coaching] staff played here, so
we're very familiar with how we do things and what we're trying to
do. We tried to make things seem as normal as possible and tried to
keep things the way the guys are used to."

McKeown declined to comment on specifics of the incident
regarding the suspended players or the report that they have been
readmitted to the school. Stephenson did not respond to a request
for comment made through McKeown.

"I have nothing but the utmost respect for Coach Stephenson. I
am very thankful for all the opportunities he's provided me, first
as a student-athlete here at Binghamton and then three years ago as
a [coach]," McKeown said. "I know wherever he does land on his
feet, he's going to do a great job."

Junior midfielder Chris Cook said that while he was disappointed
that Stephenson resigned, he has faith in the coach's decisions and
what he felt was the right thing to do.

"Once everything got pushed to the side, we really started
focusing back on lacrosse," Cook said. "I'm pretty proud of our
team. We faced some troubles and we really stepped our game up, got
together as a team and really worked together to get into the
conference playoffs."

"We just had to get the guys together and make sure they focused
on what we can control, which is the product on the field," senior
defenseman Derrick Danieu added. "The stuff that was going on off
the field, we as players couldn't really control."

Binghamton hosts Albany on Saturday riding a four-game home
winning streak. Seven seniors will play their final regular season
home game on Saturday.

"No one on our team has ever beaten Albany besides a couple guys
on our coaching staff," McKeown said. "I'm excited for the
opportunity that those guys have to try to get a victory against
Albany one last time."

The win over Hartford last week showed McKeown that the team is
working well together and taking advantage of offensive
opportunities. He also credited the play this year of senior
midfielders Frank Donlon and David Raleigh.

"Defensively, we just need to keep working strong as a team and
trusting one another out there when we're making slides and knowing
everyone's got each other's back," Cook said. "On offense, it's
just taking the 'S' off your chest and understanding that it's a
team, and goals will come."